The idea for this article came to me during a visit to Washington, DC, for the ASIS Annual Meeting where I talked with
people from different universities, libraries, publishing agencies and software development companies, as well as from government and private accreditation bodies. I found great interest in my Republic and decided that ASIS members
might be interested in the results of my research regarding challenges and opportunities for distance learning (DL) in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, former Soviet Union.

Approaches to Distance Education

During my stay in the
United States, I studied the three most common approaches to DL delivery in this country and then analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Based on the results of my research and my knowledge of the demographic and
communications situation and the social environment in Kazakhstan, I developed recommendations of how to initiate DL in Kazakhstan.

The following three approaches were examined:

n

use of university TV networks (two-way audio-video connections) for delivery of on-campus
courses to remote university colleges;

n use of mixed technologies where students
also have face-to-face lectures with professors for a full day once a week – usually on Saturdays; and

n online teaching, in which students enroll, participate in a course (or even a program), take their exams and even receive their diplomas without face-to-face meetings with the
university-based instructors.

Table 1 presents the results of a SWOT (strength-weakness-opportunities-threats) analysis of these three approaches.

Kazakh (Qazaq), which, according to the Constitution, is the state language of the Republic of
Kazakhstan and is spoken by more than 50% of the population. In state institutions and local self-administrative bodies the Russian language is used equally with the Kazakh language.

Literacy, defined as percentage of the population age 15 and over who can read and write:

Total population: 98%Male: 99%Female: 96% (1989 est.)

From the data above one can see that literacy is very high, and the main language used in education is Russian.

Trends in Education

Any evaluation of the Kazakhstan education market must consider several different aspects. On the one hand, there is a tendency to close some educational institutions in the regions, while on the other hand
there is a growing demand for higher education in prestigious colleges and universities with high standards of teaching. These trends will lead to a situation in which some universities will not have
enough facilities to serve the growing demand.

Another important tendency is the fast growing interest in retraining for a better future: better-educated
people tend to receive better jobs. Employers of big companies, as in the United States, are ready to update the knowledge of their staffs.

One more motivation for DL development in Kazakhstan is the need for universities to become financially self-sustainable. DL for them is a new source of revenue. So it is evident that development of
DL in Kazakhstan has a great potential.

The question is: What is the best approach? How to start? How to apply the knowledge and
experience of other countries, and the United States in particular, to choose the right approach for Kazakhstan?

Other Factors Possibly Influencing DL Development in Kazakhstan

Let us look at the Kazakhstan environment in terms of the evaluation of factors that might influence DL development in the Republic. Some of these factors are listed in Table 2.

6. Autocratic methods of governing previously in practice for long period of time

7. "Cheating" as a usual practice among students

Favorable Factors

1. Extensive territory (Area: total: 2,717,300 sq km [1,049,155 square miles] slightly less than four times the size of Texas)

2. Demand for knowledge and high literacy of population

3. Many international companies' branches in the Republic

4. Declining costs of computers

5. Trend toward rapid reduction of costs for Internet access

6. State program for computer literacy for schools

Taking into consideration the existing poor communication infrastructure in the Republic, including the
lack of a cable or satellite educational television or videoconferencing network, the Internet approach seems more feasible. The rapid development of Internet technology also points in this direction.
Therefore one can assume the following:

n

DL in Kazakhstan will use the interactive Internet (online) approach with supplementary audio and video materials on CD-ROM and in hard copy.

n Problems of security and identification will require much attention.

n Guidelines for curriculum development and course design will need to be worked out to guarantee quality of teaching.

n Consideration of other countries' experiences will be of great value.

I hope this discussion will help readers in the United States who might be interested in DL delivery to Kazakhstan and Central Asia understand the problems. While the United States has a well-established
tradition of teaching DL programs through the use of cable TV and videoconferencing facilities, I must stress that in spite of all the advantages of this approach the Central Asia region does not have the
developed infrastructure necessary for application of such methods. On the other hand, the results of my research show that high quality DL teaching and learning is possible using the online approach described above.

I, therefore, believe that the best starting point will be with the delivery of online corporate training programs in English to the personnel of large international companies in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
For this purpose collaboration of US entities, experienced in DL, has to be created with the aim of developing a suitable environment for DL. In my opinion, the best start will be development of a
corporate training center with its own high-speed access to the Internet and highly qualified staff. This center has to provide the whole range of services to its clients, including consulting, software supply,
courses, curriculum development, library supplies, software and course maintenance, etc.

This center will be a good base for further expansion of the idea of DL throughout the region.

Acknowledgment

Research for this article was supported in part by a grant from the International Research & Exchange Board (IREX) with funds provided by the United States Information Agency. Neither of these
organizations is responsible for the views expressed herein.